Some of you might have noticed that I recently had a WTB ad posted for 50bmg ammo. Well, at SHOT show this year I was able to score a great deal on something I've been lusting after for years now; the Safety Harbor SHTF 50 upper. It's a 5 round mag fed bolt action upper chambered in 50bmg with a 22" barrel, massive muzzle brake, and the Safety Harbor's exacto rail system.

Due to some BS with the ATF Safety Harbor had halted production of most of the parts they sell for the SHTF 50 so instead of buying their lower and stock I had to piece together the lower out of parts I found at various other sites.

The lower consists of:

-Hell Fire Armory single shot lower in cerakote black
-ARFX rifle length stock
-Aero Precision enhanced LPK minus the FCG
-Ergo palm shelf grip (because +1 tactical points)

I picked the parts for a mix of strength and comfort (as much comfort as possible with a 50bmg). Also the Hell Fire Armory lower is one of the few "single shot" AR lowers available that deletes the standard AR magwell. Here's a pic of the parts laid out ready for assembly:



Unfortunately the rear takedown lug on the SHTF 50 upper is massive and required removing some material in the HFA lower. So, with some hesitation, I got out the dremel and began grinding on my newly cerakoted lower:



After slowly removing as little material from the lower as possible I was met with success. The upper and lower have a VERY tight fit. No slop whatsoever!

Now for sighting system. I had a Vortex Viper PST 6-24x50 on a Trijicon QD mount just sitting in the box waiting for a home. This seems like a worthy rifle, but will the Vortex hold up to the 50bmg recoil? Not sure, but Vortex does have a lifetime warranty!

Scope mounted:



I began to consider that with the significant recoil of the 50bmg getting scope eyed might be a concern with some shooters. So I mounted a set of Magpul BUIS on the rail. The scope is on a QD mount so it should be no problem to remove it for shooters who prefer the iron sights. Unfortunately, I had to remove the sun shade to accommodate the front sight. -1 tactical points.

Also the Harris bipod I had mounted just didn't look right under the rifle so I ordered a Magpul bipod that certainly looks better, but again I'm not sure if it will hold up to the recoil of 50bmg. We'll see, but my pocketbook isn't quite ready to drop another $300-$400 on a heavy duty bipod just yet.

Initial impression: it's heavy AF! Very front heavy due to the weight of the barrel, but feels solid! The bolt glides smoothly through the action and locks in tight. The trigger is good. Even with using a mil-spec trigger and the heavy hammer spring provided by Safety Harbor the trigger is 5lbs or less and breaks clean. The engagement of the SH hammer and mil-spec trigger is tight with plenty of contact area so I'm a little surprised the trigger feels as good as it does. Looking forward to getting it out shooting and sighted in although my shoulder is already starting to ache just thinking about it.

Here's a couple pics of the rifle as it sits currently: (sorry for the bad pics, lighting conditions weren't favorable for pics today)

Oh Hell yeah!...but my shoulder hurts just looking at it.

Just gotta find a range and work out a day. You guys are all welcome to shoot it!

so how much quid you got tied up in this thing.....asking for a friend

Balls! That's nice! There's gotta be some sort of shock absorbing or recoil reducing stock that you can put on the buffer tube, no? Please. Who knows, maybe as heavy as that sucker is it won't be too bad, right?

Have fun! Waiting for the range report.

For everything on the rifle in the last pics (scope/mount/BUIS/bipod) everything. Just a hair under $2600. Not bad considering the upper and scope alone would cost close to that price bought at retail.

Thanks bud! Hard to see but the fins inside the muzzle brake are angled back like a barrett brake. Hopefully between that and the weight it won’t be too bad. Wishful thinking

Holy fucking mother of god!!!!

nice $5 bill dispenser...

Your dick size just doubled.

So he gained an inch?

I’ll be one of your crash test dummies!
Shot a lot of .50 and it doesn’t phase me, at least til the next day!

Awesome. That is tons of fun right there!